2 Republican candidates agree to pay Clean Elections fines

[Kali]

PHOENIX — The two Republican candidates running for Arizona Corporation Commission avoided further inquiry into their campaign finances Thursday by each agreeing to pay $1,000 fines.

Tom Forese and Doug Little essentially acknowledged that they committed to spending money on their joint campaign before they actually had the cash. That is a violation of election laws.

They also acknowledged that they did not properly report money they spent on such things as campaign signs and petition circulators.

The deal was approved by a 3-1 vote by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission after Tom Collins, the panel’s executive director, recommended it to them. He called it an “appropriate resolution” of the issue.

Read more: http://tucson.com/business/local/republican-candidates-agree-to-pay-clean-elections-fines/article_62553cea-e8cc-5ac1-ac11-65f95e3e1a7a.html

more here http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/2014/09/11/republican-corp-comm-candidates-accused-of-improperly-funding-campaign-signs/15483255/

"If they bought $200,000 worth of signs two weeks before the (primary) election, and got them up, that is legal," he said. "But that is a pretty tall order. It is not legal if they were paying for stuff that was already put up."

It also would be a violation if they used their public money available to them for the primary to pay for signs that wouldn't get posted until after election day, thus contributing to their campaign for the general election Nov. 4.

"It is questionable whether $200,000 worth of signs could have been printed and distributed in two weeks," Barton wrote in the complaint.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

1. It should have been more that $1,000!

That is more like a slap on the wrist.